P1: Explanations For Obedience Flashcards
Autonomous state
Ppl direct their own actions and have full mental control over them. So take full responsibility
Agentic state
Allowing others to direct your actions and pass off the responsibility. Due to either having a good image or being uncertain of the situation so needing someone else to take action.
Legitimacy
Person giving orders is perceived as qualified to direct others behaviour. Person being ordered believes authority will take responsibility for what happens
The 3 situational factors which affected Milgram’s study of obedience.
Proximity
Uniform
Location
Milgram’s study: aim
How far one goes obeying even when harming another human is involved.
Milgram’s experiment: procedure
Teacher= real ppt
Learner=confederate.
Teacher told to shock for each wrong answer when asked questions p. Voltage inc. as more wrong answers given
300 V marked ‘danger’ 450V marked ’XXX’.
If teacher resists experimenter repeatedly goes ‘experiment must go on’ or ‘you must continue’
Milgram’s experiment: results
2/3 of ppts continued till 450V
ALL ppts went up to 300V.
Proximity
When experimenter gave instructions over the phone only 21% continues to 450V.
Location
When conducted at a Uni, ppts felt location gave them more confidence. Agentic state. But when conducted elsewhere obedience lvls dropped
Uniform:
Powerful impact as its easiest to notice & conveys power.
Evaluation:ethics
Ppts deceived, lack of informed consent .
No real right to withdraw.
Ppts exp severe stress, mental harm while thinking they could’ve killed someone.
Milgram claimed results couldn’t have been foreseen. When told the purpose of the study ppts were glad to have taken part.
Evaluation: int Val. Lack of realism
Researchers have found ppts tend to distrust the experimenter as they know true purpose of the exp may be disguised.
Many of Milgram’s ppts had been sceptical ab whether the shocks were real. ‘Doubters’ were found to have given less shocks than the rest.
This challenges the val.
may mean when faced w destructive authority ppl are more likely to disobey.
Evaluation: power of uniform
In an exp when children shown 3 men: a policeman in civilian clothes, a man dressed in police uniform & a man in a diff occupation uniform. And asked which of 3 can make an arrest. Most selected man in police uniform.
Suggests that childrens initial perception of authority are dominated by superficial aspects of appearance.
Authoritarian personality:
Personality pattern which shows desire for structured lines of authority, a conventional set of values, demand for unquestioning obedience.
F scale
Measures the diff components making up the authoritarian personality.
Ppl who scored high were also raised by authoritarian parents that used even physical punishment. Growing up with that makes one see it as the norm
